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Abstract

We demonstrated that the graphene could be used as an effective saturable absorber for Q-switched solid-state lasers. A graphene saturable absorber mirror was fabricated with large and high-quality graphene sheets deprived from the liquid phase exfoliation. Using this mirror, 105-ns pulses and 2.3-W average output power are obtained from a passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser. The maximum pulse energy is 3.2 μJ. The slope efficiency is as high as 37% approximating to 40% of the continue-wave laser, indicating a low intrinsic loss of the graphene.

Q-switched pulse train under the incident pump power of 0.9 W (a), under the incident pump power of 3.2 W (b), and under the incident pump power of 6.5 W (c). (d) 105-ns Q-switched pulse profile under the incident pump power of 6.5 W.